La flûte enchantée

Fresh from recent screenings of Michael Powell's "Tales of Hoffmann" (1951) and "Bluebeard's Castle" (1963) I thought I'd give this a go... No, in no way can anyone claim that the singing is to the same standard of Norman Foster or Robert Rounseville, but there is one similarity. This is not an opera, it's a filmed interpretation of one - and it's aimed fairly and squarely at younger folks who would no more want to sit through two hours of Mozart sang in German than they'd volunteer for dental surgery. I think that's what makes this worth indulging a bit more. Recruiting the handsome Jack Wolfe (anyone else think he looks a little bit like Thomas Sangster) is guaranteed to turns some heads. He is the seventeen year old "Tim" who takes up his place at the famous Mozart school high in the Alps. He knows nobody and is armed only with the tiniest amount of confidence and a book given to him by his now deceased dad. He gets a distinctly frosty welcome from the musical snobs - including the professor "Lomgbow" (the sparingly used F. Murray Abraham) - in the place, but his roommate "Paolo" (Ellie Courtiour) proves to be OK and he makes friends with "Sophie" (Niamh McCormack) over some "Jackson 5" music on their headphones. What he also discovers is that his book opens a long forgotten secret passageway into the very land in which "The Magic Flute" is set. So long as he goes through at 3 o'clock each night, he will be able to live out the story with "Papageno" (Iwan Rheon), "Pamina" (Asha Banks) as they face the "Queen of the Night" (Sabine Devieilhe). To help defend himself, he has been given a flute and now he must learn to use it to best effect. Yes, it's the "Janet and John" version, and the English language obsession with rhyme can limit the power of the libretto at times, but this is still an engaging mix of modern teen/hormonal drama interspersed through some of the darker, funnier and more sinister elements of the original story. The score is rousing and the cast - especially Devieilhe - deliver the songs adequately enough, I'd say, to encourage anyone interested in the production to take it to anther level - to see it on the stage even. It's not great, but it's a solid effort that might just make this marvellous form of entertainment become of interest to a new generation of Taylor Swift fans.

I am a musician, I play trumpet and sing with groups, but I am not particularly a fan of opera. I knew that Mozart wrote "The Magic Flute" but other than that had no idea what the story was about. Now I know! And this movie makes that journey fun. There is a key fantasy element here and that is a movie trait I generally enjoy. Think "Pleasantville" or "The Purple Rose of Cairo."

The movie begins with a young man by his sick dad's bedside. His dad was a singer and young Tim would go to the prestigious Mozart academy in Austria, shortly after his dad passed away.

Young Jack Wolfe, with his fine features and slight build looking 15, is Tim Walker. When he shows up mid-session learns that the school is auditioning for a stage performance of Mozart's Magic Flute. He might be a candidate for the lead role of Prince Tamino.

One fateful morning at precisely 3:00AM he is transported through a magic portal to the fictional land of the characters in 'The Magic Flute.' There he is Prince Tamino and he must figure out a way to save the Princess. At 6:00AM he is back in school, only to be repeated on next days.

Already with his connection to Mozart in the 1984 movie 'Amadeus', F. Murray Abraham plays the stern head of the music school, creating a character not too different from the stern teacher in the 2000 movie 'Finding Forrester.' He is excellent in these types of roles, as he is here.

I watched it at home on BluRay from my public library. With DTS surround sound it was like being in an auditorium when the Mozart symphonic music was playing. And the video is some of the best I have seen.

All in all a very fine and entertaining take on 'The Magic Flute'. My wife skipped the first time but joined me when I re-watched it 6 weeks later.

My wife and I took my five year old daughter to go see this. I don't know much about Mozart or this particular opera but I knew there were fantasy elements and were all huge fantasy nerds. The first twenty minutes set up the main character of Tim and his relationship with his father, who was a famous singer of sorts (to what extent is never explained fully) and he gives his son a magic book. He's sent to attend the same music school as his father, one dedicated to Mozart. But soon we realize he's set to relive his fathers legacy by playing the lead in The Magic Flute. F. Murray Abraham is deviously wonderful as the strict headmaster, although he is drastically under used. Tim soon finds himself using the magic book and a magic portal behind a clock to transport himself to the world of The Magic Flute where he meets Iwan Rheon as Papagenu who absolutely steals the show. The resulting film is filled with fantastic music and visuals, including a giant snake, an evil Queen, and a daring rescue of a kidnapped princess by the unlikely heroes. The scenes at the school seemed to drag from time to time, but toward the end I was happy that they included as much of that storyline as they did because it was heartwarming at the conclusion. My 5 year old and I loved, my wife didn't like it at all unfortunately. But we will definitely be watching this again.

I just happened upon this movie while browsing. I had not heard of it and it sounded intriguing I'm a fan of Mozart so I decided to watch it. I'm very glad that I did. Refreshingly fun, poignant, and entertaining. Not to mention great music. Very nicely done adaptation of the opera. Is the singing fabulous? Those that are real opera singers are wonderful. Everyone else did a really nice job. It's nice to see a great composer get some screen time again and possibly introduce a new generation to Mozart. Forget the bad reviews. Just relax, turn the ringer off on you phone and enjoy it. You will be humming some of these tunes for a few days.

There are so many great things going on in this movie that it's kind of sad that it has some big issues that keep it from being a great success. The concept is interesting, the cast is wonderful, and the story moves very quickly, although sometimes to its own detriment. Two major things could have saved this movie for me. It would have been a mini series, so it wouldn't have felt so rushed and the relationships between the characters could have felt more developed. Because there was so much underdevelopment in the characters and plot, I had a hard time understanding the parallels between the stories of the real and magical worlds. I'm still not sure if there's any more of a parallel other than the protagonist proving his worth. If that was all, then it was a pretty big "to do" for such a simple theme. Also, I didn't care for the production design for the magical world. I honestly feel that the real world setting of the school was so much more interesting and charming than the beigeness of the magical world which often resembles the desolate, depressing landscapes of Dune. One would expect the magical world to be more vibrant and exciting to visit than the real one. I found myself more enjoying the real world and its storylines, just not enough.